The Fire Nation's Downfall
by shants mcpants
Summary: Mai,Zuko,and Iroh team up with Aang and his friends to try & end the war. Can they defeat firelord Osai before it is too late? Find out when you read this story. Please read & review Pre Book 2 Episodes 19-20 . R&R.
1. 1: Fresh Start

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender._

Chapter 1 : Fresh Start

"Zuko, I am off to get a few groceries. Watch the shop while I am gone?" Asked Iroh to his nephew who was ringing someone up at the counter.

Zuko turned and look at his uncle with a smile. He couldn't believe it…He was finally free. Free of war, honor, and the avatar. He was happy. Ever since he and his uncle had opened their tea shop The Jade Dragon Zuko had felt as though he was home.

"Ok uncle. Hurry back though; it's almost time for the afternoon rush."

Iroh nodded to his nephew, he too smiling. He was thinking about all of the luck that had found them in the past few days. For one Iroh was finally living his dream of owning his own tea shop. Second he had noticed that Zuko was starting to seem comfortable with the idea of not catching the avatar to regain his honor. And finally Iroh had acquired a sense of security within the very walls that he had once laid siege upon. He chuckled at the thought.

When Iroh reached the market he began to shop around looking for different herbs and spices to blend for tea. After getting all that he needed from the market he turned to head back to The Jade Dragon. He froze. Right there not 20 ft. in front of him stood Azula, Mai and Ty Lee in earth kingdom disguises. "Oh no." He thought to himself. But they hadn't seemed to notice him yet. Realizing this he took it as his only chance to get away. He scurried around a building to avoid them when he suddenly collided with someone. Iroh being the gentleman he was immediately began to apologize to the young lady, that is until he realized who she was. There on the ground laid none other than Mai. Iroh immediately took a defensive stance until he noticed the tears streaming down her face. Knowing that she wasn't one to express her feelings this had to be bad. He settled himself on the ground beside her.

"What seems to be troubling you my young warrior?" Asked Iroh

Mai looked up into Iroh's eyes almost shocked that he would even consider conversating with her let alone try to make her feel better. She wiped the tears from her face and sighed.

"Why aren't you attacking me or something? I mean after all the trouble that Azula, Ty Lee and I have caused u I would've expected an attack of some kind."

Iroh laughed at Mai's theory and began to explain.

"Well seeing as how you are not attacking me on this lovely day, why ruin it by attacking you? However you seem distraught and I don't like seeing ladies cry, it is just about the most heart wrenching site in the world. And in these times when you see a lady crying it is almost definitely tied to the war in one way or another. So I ask you again, what is troubling you?"

Mai didn't know what it was about Iroh that just made her want to explain everything to him. Explain how she just can't handle working with Azula anymore. Mai wanted to be good. She just didn't know how to change without pissing Azula off. But seeing as how she had been pissed off by Azula, she seemed to have the right to leave.

Mai finally mustered up the courage to respond to Iroh's question.

"I am tired of working for Azula, I am tired of listening to her complaining and bossiness and worst of all…her insults. I want out. And now I am. But I have nowhere to go and no Idea what I am going to do to make a living and what if Azula decides that she wants me dead for being a traitor? I don't know what to do."

Iroh nodded understandingly to Mai. This young warrior had definitely had enough time with Azula and seems to seriously want to change. Everyone should get a second chance he thought to himself. Suddenly an idea hit him.

He looked at Mai and asked "what do you want in life?"

She looked at him strangely then decided that she should just tell him.

"I just want to be happy."

Iroh smiled at this as he got up and held out his hand to help her up.

"If you truly seek happiness, then follow me."

...

_Meanwhile in a guest house just around the corner, four friends are celebrating their recent success in acquiring the Earth King's signature for the use of his troops for the invasion plan on the Day of Black Sun._

"Well guys we did it, we finally got the Earth king's signature for his troops and now all we need to do is find Dad and some other warriors and we should be alright!" said Sokka who seemed to be at the high point of his life. Sokka finally felt like he had done some good for the ending of the war.

Aang and Katara were dancing around in the living room while Mo-Mo flew in a circle over their heads. Everyone seemed to be happy. Everyone except for Toph.

She stood by herself propped up in a corner staring blindly at the floor. She could sense through vibrations where everyone was…Including Sokka. She just couldn't understand the way she felt about him. One minute she is arguing with him and yelling and then the next minute she misses him. She didn't think anyone had noticed how she felt about Sokka yet…Except for the one person who she didn't want to find out. Suki. When they all tried to cross The Serpent's Pass and Toph nearly drowned. She had been screaming for Sokka to come save her. Well before Sokka could act Suki had already jumped in after her. Toph not realizing that it was Suki not Sokka that had saved her, kissed her. The humiliation that Toph felt afterwards was almost unbearable. But she knew that Suki had caught on to her liking Sokka.

While Toph was lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed that Sokka was now right next to her. Not only that but they were also the only ones in the room now. Toph didn't know what say so she said the first thing that came to mind.

"What do you want?" It came off as more grumpy than she would have liked.

Sokka noticed the grumpiness in her voice and decided to call her on it.

"Toph? Is everything okay?" Sokka was trying to befriend her the best he could without making it seem like he was hitting on her or something. He always got a strange feeling that Toph liked him but he could never prove it. Well he never really tried to prove it.

Toph was almost taken aback by the sincerity in his voice. Being one to use vibrations to see can be rather helpful when talking to someone. She looked in his general direction. She was trying very hard to fight back the tears that she was containing. On one front, she missed her parents a lot more than she was letting on. And two, she liked Sokka and just couldn't find a way to tell him. She fought a hard battle but it seemed that her emotion had won. Tears started streaming down her face.

This shocked Sokka. He couldn't recall ever seeing Toph cry. _What could be wrong with her? _He thought to himself. Sokka didn't know what to do. Should he go get Katara? Then he decided against his better judgment to hug her.

When he did he could feel Toph tense in is arms. Toph couldn't believe it, he was hugging her. She decided to go ahead and try to explain what was bothering her. _God I just hope this goes better than it has been in my head. _She thought, afraid of how Sokka will react to how she feels.

She took a deep breath "Sokka I…I just…I have a lot on my mind. First of all I miss my parents a lot more than I let on. And I also have been trying to get up the courage to tell you something."

This caught Sokka's attention. What could she be telling him that took so much courage to say? He thought for a second then noticed that she was waiting for him to say something. He sighed "What is it Toph?"

She sniffed "Sokka I…I l-l-li."

But suddenly she was cut off by Katara coming in as she was saying something. "Hey are you guys hungry? Aang and I are about to go find a restaurant or maybe even a tea shop, ya'll wanna come?"

Toph couldn't resist, she had to get out of here. She was chickening out. She was ashamed of herself but at the same time felt that then wasn't the right time to tell Sokka how she felt. She just knew that time would come eventually.

The four made their way out into the city and decided to go to the new tea shop that everyone had been talking about. The Jade Dragon.

_A/N: Hey guys!! Thanks for reading chapter 1!! I hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE write reviews. How am I going to know if you liked it or not if you don't write a review?_


	2. 2: New Alliances

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender._

Chapter 2: New Allies

Zuko was behind the counter of a very busy tea shop. He wondered where his uncle was but didn't worry about it too much. He knew that whatever was keeping his uncle, it must be important. His uncle had taught him not to panic at the slightest change in a schedule. The bell rang signaling that someone had entered the shop. When Zuko looked up he was stunned. There stood his uncle and to his great disbelief…Mai.

Zuko tried as hard as he could to keep his cool, knowing that his uncle probably had a good reason as to why he was currently escorting her into their home. He made eye contact with his uncle and saw a look that said everything is ok. Zuko went into the back room and met Mai and is uncle, he shut the door and looked at his uncle.

"Explain!" Zuko had tried to keep his cool but enough was enough, he was going to get some answers.

Iroh looked at his nephew. He understood why his nephew would not understand what was happening. He took a deep breath and put his arm around Mai.

"Well Zuko, while I was shopping I happened upon young Mai here who was quite distraught at the time. She told me she was tired of working with your sister Azula. So I offered a place here with us. She just wants to be happy. Please understand Zuko. You were able to change sides, so why can't she?"

Zuko was about to retort when reason hit him. His uncle was right, he had changed…for the better. So who was he to make Mai's decision for her? She deserved the same opportunity he did. He looked at her. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. _This could turn out rather interesting, _he thought to himself. He turned to look back at his uncle. He sighed.

"I'll go and prepare my room for her, uncle I will move my things into your room." After he finished he turned and made his way up the stairs to make the necessary preparations for Mai to stay with them. As he walked up the stairs he could have sworn he heard Mai mutter "thank you" under her breath. He smiled to himself and thought. _Interesting indeed._

Iroh smiled after his nephew left, he looked at Mai a sighed. "Well he certainly has grown into a fine young man. I am very pleased with how he handled that just now. He has become the man I always knew he would be."

Mai smiled at Iroh. "Thank you for your hospitality. If you want I can do some work around the shop for you while Zuko is up-stairs making his room inhabitable for me."

Iroh nodded at Mai. "Well if you don't mind standing at the counter, the prices are on the register."

Just then the bell rang to signal the door opening. Iroh took a deep breath "ah and there is your first customer." He smiled at Mai as she was walking out. He followed her and noticed that she had suddenly gone rigid. He immediately thought the worst and figured that Azula and Ty Lee had walked in. But 

when he looked over her shoulder he was almost relieved to see that it was in fact the avatar and his friends who had walked in. He casually put his hand on Mai's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "I will handle them; you go let Zuko know who has arrived. If we are lucky then maybe we can join up with the avatar in hopes to end this war."

Mai only nodded and went up stairs to tell Zuko who arrived.

Iroh went forward to address aang first, knowing that he would be more understanding than the others. Then he saw Toph and smiled. _So this is the group she was having trouble with._ He thought to himself. He then decided to approach her.

Toph sensed him approaching and smiled. "Well hi there! Did everything work out with your nephew?"

Iroh smiled at the remembering of their conversation that they had in the woods. "I believe that it has thanks for asking. How have you been my dear friend? I trust everything worked out with you?"

Toph went and gave Iroh a hug. "It's worked out pretty well. I have been great and now even better since I have found you. I need more advice…but not here."

Iroh looked at her with understanding, and then looked the other three who seemed to be in shock.

Aang was the first one to speak. "Toph. You know this man?"

Toph smiled "Yeah he and I met in the woods during one of times when we weren't getting along. He gave me a cup of tea and some excellent advice. He doesn't mean us any harm, if he did he would have attacked already…right?"

Aang seemed to realize where Toph was coming from. He looked at Iroh and smiled, "well I guess if Toph trusts you then I guess we do too. Umm…where is Zuko? He isn't going to attack us is he?"

Iroh chuckled at the slight worry in Aang's voice. "Well allow me to explain a few things. If you will all take a seat I will get us some tea, then I will explain what is going on."

They all nodded and took a seat at the table closet to the counter so that Iroh wouldn't have to walk too far. A few minutes later Iroh appeared with five cups of tea on a tray. He casually passed out each glass to the four and then proceeded to take a seat. He took a long sip of his tea and sighed.

"A lot has happened since we last met. First of all Zuko and I no longer support the Fire Nation. We have both decided to start over here in hopes that maybe we could blend in, and so far it has gone well. Second, we have a new Fire Nation traitor in our presence. Mai has decided she is no longer favorable of working for Azula. She is currently upstairs telling Zuko that you four have arrived. Hopefully he will handle it like he did when he decided to let Mai stay with us." At this, took a sip of his tea. He took a breath and then continued his explanation. "Finally, we were also wondering if there is maybe a possibility of us joining your group. Zuko and I could teach you firebending and Mai would be a great asset to the group. She knows Azula's plans."

At that Sokka decided to step in. "But what if Mai is part of Azula's plan? What if she is just trying to set us up?"

Iroh nodded in understanding. He looked at the door to the back room and noticed was creaking open he sighed. "If you don't believe me then allow her to tell her own story." He signaled toward the door. Suddenly the door opened as Mai and Zuko walked into the room. Surprisingly Zuko seemed to be keeping his cool and wasn't showing the slightest intent to attack. Mai stepped forward and looked directly in Aangs eyes, "Zuko and I have been talking and well…we want to be good. We know we have both caused you a lot of trouble and we are very sorry for that. Just know that we are now willing to risk our lives for the avatar. We will see the end of Firelord Osai."

The four of them seemed to get into a huddle to discuss what Mai just said. A few seconds later it was Katara who stood up and looked Mai directly in the eyes, "we have decided to give you a chance, but one screw up and you are both gone."

Mai nodded her thanks to Katara. Katara's eyes then flashed to Zuko's, "Well aren't you going to say anything?"

Zuko looked up at her and then sighed, "I never dreamed that one day I would join sides with the very person that I have been pursuing for the past three years. But, I feel that it is in my best interest that I follow my heart. And my heart is saying…that I need to help Aang."

On that note, Aang stood up and walked over to Zuko. Aang looked into Zuko's eyes and held out his hand, "I am glad you have decided to join us, we could really use your help."

Zuko looked at Aang's hand then took it in his own and shook. Zuko looked at Aang, "Thank you."

After that they decided that they would continue their celebration at the tea shop for the rest of the day. Knowing that tomorrow they would have to start gathering troops and preparing for what they had hoped would be the final battle.

_A/N: Hey guys. I hope you have enjoyed my story so far. Please READ and REVIEW. I am never going to know what you think about my story if you don't REVIEW it so please help me out. Thanks for reading._


	3. 3: Plans Made

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender._

Chapter 3: Plans Made

"Come on Sokka, we were supposed to be at The Jade Dragon ten minutes ago!" exclaimed Katara, who was violently shaking Sokka awake.

Sokka finally opened his eyes and stared blankly at Katara, he sat there for a second then seemed to suddenly realize that he had somewhere to be. He jumped out of bed not even trying to avoid bumping into Katara, he went into the bathroom for what seemed like two seconds and came out perfectly cleaned and groomed. He walked over to Katara grabbed her had and quickly drug her out of the room. "Come on Katara, we are late! Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?"

At that Katara was seriously tempted to slap Sokka as hard as she could, but then figured that it would just cause an un-needed scuffle. She couldn't help but smile at the way her brother was acting. Ever since yesterday when they found out that Mai, Zuko and Iroh had joined their side. Sokka was certain that they would know where they would have taken prisoners of war. He was determined to save the Kyoshi warriors. But more importantly…Suki. When they found out that Mai, Zuko and Iroh had joined their side. Sokka was certain that they would know where they would have taken prisoners of war. He was determined to save the Kyoshi warriors. But more importantly…Suki.

Sokka and Katara finally arrived at The Jade Dragon. When they entered they were pleased to see that everyone was there. Iroh and Zuko had closed the shop for the day to make sure that no one would be listening in on their conversation. They took a seat in between Aang and Toph, Sokka yawned quite violently then proceeded to speak. "So what is our next move?"

Aang stood up and began pacing around the table. "Ok. We need more fighters, the Earth King's army will help a lot but it isn't going to be enough. We need help. I meditated all night trying to figure out who else we could get to help us, but then I realized that I was thinking too hard and that the answer was right there in front of me. So our job for the next few days will be to split up into groups and get more warriors. Toph, do you think that you could convince the earth bending wrestlers to help?"

Toph laughed "Well I can try, but they all have a grudge with me ever since I demolished them. But If I could convince them to join our side they would definitely be a big help. I will go." Toph was very confident that she could convince the other wrestlers to come and fight for them. She stood up, "Ok, I think that since they are the closest, I can travel there by foot. She made for the door, just then Iroh cleared his throat. "No offense to your fighting skills, but I think that you are a little young yet to be traveling on your own. I will accompany you on your journey to seek the earth benders." Toph only nodded, she had secretly been hoping to get some alone time with Iroh in hopes that he could offer her some advice on how to handle her situation with Sokka. They started making their way toward the door when Aang stopped them. "Hold on, we need to decide when we need to decide when we are going to 

meet back up. I don't think any of the trips should take more than four days. So if anyone doesn't return by the fourth day, assume the worst. Toph, Iroh…Good luck." At that Toph and Iroh continued out the door.

Aang turned back to the rest of the group and sighed, "next, Katara and Mai…you two head up to the North Pole and see if you can convince Yue's father to send some of his Waterbenders and maybe even a few healers with ya'll to help us defeat the firelord once and for all."

Katara was curious as to why Aang put her with Mai, _why didn't he partner up with me?_ She thought to herself. She decided that it was probably for the best that she get time to bond with Mai. Just a few days ago if someone would have told her that she would be teaming up with Iroh, Zuko, and Mai she would have never believed it. But now that she has thought about it a little, it seems like all along that this was destined to happen. She smirked and thought to herself, _well if I am going to be spending the next few days with Mai; I should probably break the ice first by starting a conversation with her…how hard could it be? _Katara stood up and stretched, "well Mai, since our trip is going to be the longest we get to take Appa. Are you ready?"

Mai looked up at Katara, her lips perked upward in a faint smile. She stood up and made her way over to stand next to Katara. She sighed, "Let's go." Katara nodded and turned to walk for the door. She and Mai were almost out when she heard Aang say "Please be careful you two." Mai and Katara both nodded to Aang before quietly exiting the shop.

As soon as the door shut, Sokka figured now was as good a time as any. He turned to Zuko and began, "umm…Zuko? If I were say…umm…looking for prisoners of war in the Fire Nation where would I go?" At this Zuko choke on some of the tea he was currently drinking, "why on in world would you want to know something like that?" Sokka seemed hesitant at first, but after thinking about Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors he said, "I am going to rescue Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi warriors."

At this Aang stepped in, "Sokka that's a great idea! But you are not going alone…Zuko and I are coming too.

_A/N: Hey guys! I know this had an abrupt ending but don't worry. It is all leading up to the next few chapters which will be in the format of Book 2:Chapter15: The Tales of Ba Sing Se. So just keep on reading and Reviewing and I will keep updating!_


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